The Sacramento-based California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA), will host what it calls the largest state conference on waste reduction in Oakland, California, July 26-29. July 27, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf will welcome attendees, sharing how Oakland is committed to becoming a more sustainable city.
Conference plenary speakers include Vien Truong, CEO of Oakland-based Dream Corps; David Allaway of the Portland-based Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; and zero-waste fashion designer Daniel Silverstein, who will create a custom garment made from recycled textiles. This convening of key material management industry leaders comes at a crucial time, CRRA says, as China moves to limit the types and volumes of postconsumer materials it will receive, which is negatively affecting many recycling facility operators who now have fewer places to send recyclables. The conference will include plans for new remanufacturing facilities in California to manage materials safely and keep jobs at home.
During the conference, the Sacramento-based California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) will honor companies for their environmental efforts during the organization’s 9th Annual Arrow Awards ceremony. In addition to the Arrow Awards, CPSC says it will recognize the San Francisco Department of the Environment, a local government leader in innovative materials management policies, as well as San Francisco-based Recology, for working with San Francisco and other California local governments to help achieve the highest recycling rates possible while working to reduce waste generating processes and products.
“We are delighted to honor companies reducing materials that need disposal,” Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the CPSC, says. “The Arrow Award winners are leaders in driving a circular economy, which means ‘waste’ product from one business is feedstock for the next. Whether it’s offering refillable propane cylinders instead of disposable cylinders like Sports Basement is doing or by redesigning medical products to reduce plastic in the hospital waste stream like NewGen Surgical, all our winners are impressive. We are thrilled to highlight companies with such impactful environmental achievements.”
CPSC has announced the following Arrow Award winners:
Smarter Sorting, Petaluma, California, is the recipient of the 2018 Golden Arrow Award for overall excellence in product stewardship. Smarter Sorting is a data and technology company that used machine learning to build the world’s first smart chemical database. Smarter Sorting works with cities and retailers to divert consumer chemical products previously labeled as hazardous waste and creates reuse opportunities.
NewGen Surgical, San Rafael, California, is receiving the 2018 Green Arrow Award for system and design innovations. NewGen Surgical redesigns and manufactures medical devices and products that minimize plastic waste from operating rooms – replacing single-use disposable plastic products with ones created with recycled materials. Its Small Change, Big Impact EPP program engages health care systems to measurably eliminate tons of plastic waste from the supply chain.
California Electronic Asset Recovery (CEAR), Mather, California, is the winner of the 2018 Bow & Arrow Award for coalition building for creative partnerships and demonstrating the interdependence amongst stakeholders. CEAR works closely with local governments to create more efficient collection and recycling standards. CEAR’s unique recycling process, which uses significantly less energy than the most common practices for e-scrap recycling, has become a model for companies across the U.S., CPSC says.
Sports Basement, San Francisco, is receiving the 2018 Infinity Arrow Award for service and takeback. Sports Basement integrated the Flame King 1-pound refillable propane cylinder into its loyalty program, allowing customers to exchange refillable 1-pound propane cylinders at no cost and with no waste. Through its partnerships, the company has helped reduce the volume of disposable propane cylinders in the waste stream at parks and facilities all over Northern California.
The California Product Stewardship Council’s Annual Arrow Awards ceremony will take place July 28 at 5:45 p.m. during the CRRA’s 42nd annual conference and trade show at the Marriott City Center in Oakland July 26-29.